Will this be the year the Rutgers Scarlet Knights crack .500 for the second time since joining the Big Ten in 2014? A question Rutgers fans will be asking themselves as they watch coach Greg Schiano pace the sidelines trying to guide his program back to relevancy. Schiano who coached Rutgers from 2001-2011 while still in the Big East, is looking to improve upon his 8-14 record (5-13 in conference) since his return to Piscataway in 2020.
There is a big quarterback question and schedule revelations to look at going into the 2022 season:
Quarterback:
As of now, returning two-year starter Noah Vedral is projected to be the signal caller come September 3rd. Vedral has been less than stellar in his two years at the helm with around a 60% completion rate and 16/15 touchdown to interception splits. The Scarlet Knights may look to Sophomore four-star recruit Gavin Wimsatt to go give them more of a boost if Vedral has a poor start to the season. Evan Simon who appeared in six games in 2021 is also in the mix, but the belief is that Vedral or Wimsatt will be the ones guiding the offense. Losing star wide receiver Bo Melton to the NFL certainly won’t help an offense that averaged 19.69 points per game.
Winnable Games:
Every fan likes to go through their teams schedule and circle games they believe they can win. When you’re a team like Ohio State, you circle every game because that’s the expectation, Rutgers can aim a little smaller. Wagner, Temple, Nebraska, Indiana, Maryland are all what you would call ‘winnable’ games for Rutgers. One can argue it is more important to win the winnable games as it sets a middle expectation of who you should beat year to year compared to pulling the big upset on the heavy hitters (more on them in a minute). Rutgers knows the programs in the Big Ten they are compared to, and taking care of business against them is really important as we enter year three of Schianos return.
Either, Or Games:
Boston College- Will Rutgers be able to keep up with rejuvenated quarterback Phil Jurkovec of Boston College?
Can We Stay Competitive Games?
Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan, Michigan State, Iowa.
No surprise here, all five teams ranked in the Top 25 in the CFN preseason poll. Zach Kramer of Gridiron Heroics, has Ohio State and Michigan both appearing in his preseason top-10 rankings.
The goal is to be respectable, that’s all people want to see. Will Rutgers pull off an upset of one of these five teams? Probably not, but again, winning the winnable games and staying competitive against the heavy hitters, is the best way to gradually build your program over the years.
Outlook:
It’s not going to be an easy season for Rutgers in the Big Ten, it never is for any of those teams. What is important is for the program to keep building, show they can stay competitive. With USC and UCLA set to join the Big Ten, Rutgers is in danger of falling even further down the totem pole, an at least .500 season is needed.
Greg Schiano has a lot of work ahead of him, but Rutgers fan should feel good going forward knowing if Schiano didn’t want to work, he wouldn’t have come back, he knew what he was getting himself into.
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